Waterworld
by archergwen
Summary: Episode one of this fanfiction Doctor Who series sees the Doctor meet his new companion, an OC. But who is the Doctor now? And what is lurking beneath the water?
1. Chapter 1

Rachel Brown was having a terribly boring day. In fact, it was one of the most boring days she'd had yet. Not even Mallory's brand new dinosaur picture book and total excitement could cheer her up.

She liked working as a lifeguard; she really did. She was a shoe-in for assistant manager next year when the current manager, Katie, left. But as she stared out the door from admissions to clear skies and beautiful weather, Rachel really just wanted to get out.

"Excuse me," questioned a voice. "This is going to sound daft, but can you tell me where I am?"

Rachel came back from her dazed glance to focus on a light tan newsboy cap, whose wearer spoke with a curious accent (She suddenly wished she'd paid more attention in Drama II). "You're at La Vista Pool," she replied, fascinated by the hat.

"Ah. And where is that?"

It was definitely a UK accent. "La Vista City?" Rachel looked now at the speaker's face and there was no recognition at all. "Near Omaha, in Nebraska?" He was still confused. "The middle of the U.S. Of A?"

"Oh, so I'm in the States. Really? Strange. That's what I get for playing TARDIS roulette my first time out."

"Excuse me?"

The man, well-dressed for the average La Vista resident, merely waved his hand in dismissal. "Oh, it's nothing. Good bye."

Rachel leaned over the counter after the man she dubbed Newboy Cap. "Oi! Aren't you going to swim?" But he didn't seem to hear her and kept walking.

Shaking her head and looking at her watch, Rachel turned around to see a lifeguard coming to rotate places.

* * *

><p>Sitting Chair one, Rachel noticed a blue box on a street corner outside the pool she'd never seen before, in any of the five summers she'd worked at the pool.<p>

* * *

><p>Several hours later, Rachel was in concessions.<p>

Mallory came skipping up to the counter.

"Hey, Mal Gal. What can I get 'cha?"

"One Reese's please!" The eight year old dropped her three quarters on the metal surface but one slid down and dropped to the floor.

Rachel bent down to pick it up.

When she straightened, Mallory was gone. The two quarters sat on the counter, but Mallory had vanished without the candy.

"Mal?" Rachel opened the half-door to investigate. She took two steps out of concessions when the silence hit her.

There was absolutely no one else at the pool.

She started running for the manager's office only to be run into by Newsboy Cap, who was racing the other way.

They stared at each other for a few minutes before simultaneously exclaiming: "What are you doing here?"


	2. Chapter 2

Rachel glared at Newsboy Cap, refusing to answer first.

"Never mind that," he hurriedly said. "Quick, I need the exact spot someone was standing before they disappeared."

Eyebrows raised, Rachel pointed, "Chair 1."

He grinned. "Fantastic!" He raced over, pulling out some buzzing technology and pointing it at the chair. The metal stick emitted a blue light, as if it was analyzing the chair.

"What is that?"

"It's my sonic screwdriver."

Rachel popped her hip in disbelief. "A sonic screwdriver? How's that doing to help?"

Newsboy Cap smiled confidently. "I have locked on to the signal that took everyone at the pool. And now, I will follow it. Goodbye." And he started back through pool entrance at a run.

La Vista Pool's entrance was set up so that the admissions, break, and office area was book-ended by the two bathrooms. The raise-and-lower counter-tops kept non-employees from walking through the area, so to enter and exit the patrons had to go through the bathrooms.

That was the route Newsboy Cap took.

Days without patrons had prepared Rachel, and she hurdled the counters, reaching the door before Newsboy Cap and blocking his way.

"You are so not going without me."

"Yes. I am." He ducked under her arm.

She chased after him. "You see this?" She popped out the lifeguard logo on her suit. "I'm obligated to help these people, to save them."

He made for the blue box but she slammed into it first. Rachel put her whistle to her lips and blew three fast, loud, and _very_ shrill blasts.

He held his hands to his ears. "What was that for?"

"Three blasts. It means a lifeguard is going to save somebody." She looked pointedly at Newsboy Cap. "It means you're not getting rid of me."

He sighed. "What's your name?"

"Rachel Brown. You?"

"I'm the Doctor. Now please let me in."


	3. Chapter 3

"Oh. My. God."

Rachel squealed happily like a young girl. "It's bigger on the inside!" She started for a corridor out of the main control room.

"Hold on!" Rachel came to a sad halt. "Don't wandering about the TARDIS. We're trying to save people, remember?"

Rachel flushed. "Right. So you're a doctor in a tardy. What kind of doctor are you?"

"I'm the Doctor, of everything. And it's not a 'tardy.' It's a TARDIS: Time And Relative Dimensions In Space."

"Right. So how does this work?"

The Doctor sighed. "Hold this down," he said, pointing to a lever. Rachel did as he asked. "It disappears here, and reappears there."

"Cool." The TARDIS whirred to life with a sound that sent chills down Rachel's spine. "Oh my God, I'm traveling through space! And time! No one is going to believe this!"

The Doctor, hovering about the controls, muttered under his breath, "I don't believe you."

"Hmm?"

"Nothing," the Doctor replied quickly as the TARDIS came to a rest. He punched a few keys before declaring it was safe to exit the TARDIS as they were. "Let's go find the missing," he said, throwing his suit jacket over a railing.

The Doctor stepped out into a steel box. "An air-lock," he stated. "Now which way is to life-" Whirring to life, the door interrupted the Doctor. "Ah. There we go."

The door opened. Grinning, the Doctor stepped through it; Rachel nearly tripping on his heels.

"Olleh?" a squeaky voice said, as a leader stepped forward.

"Doctor?" Rachel whispered in his ear. "What are they?"

"I'm not sure."

'They' were slightly taller than the average human. With a few minor oddities, such as feet turned outward, they were humanoid. They had much wider hips and narrower shoulders, like an oval. Their skin was gray and spoke almost in clicks. "Uoy era ohw?"

The Doctor began to click back. "Rotcod eht ma I. Lehcar si siht. Htrae morf era ew."

Rachel was very confused, until the strangers began to speak English.

"Ereh emoclew er'uoy. You and all your friends. We have heard of you Doctor, though not with that face."

The Doctor shrugged nonchalantly. "It's rather new."

"We will bring your ship in from the airlock. It won't be damaged."

"Thank you."

A team of the aliens moved to haul the TARDIS in.

"Doctor, who are they?"

"They call themselves the Delphinus."

As soon as he said that, Rachel could see how dolphin-like they were, with faces more pointed than a humans and the shape was similar. The faces pointed out now made sense: they were like a fin.

And then the leader took a breath.

Her chest and torso expanded with the intake of air. And her neck rippled.

"Doctor? They have gills."

"Really? That is simply amazing! Evolution, at its best. They can walk, swim, breathe air and in water, they're the perfect water creatures."

The leader smiled, pointed teeth revealed. "That is why we chose this planet. Twelve feet of water covering the entire surface, as far as we know."

Rachel looked up at the dome covering them and tops of the skyscrapers reaching for the ceiling. "It's bigger on the inside too."

The leader laughed, a chirping laugh.

"So can I go swimming?"

The Doctor stared at Rachel as the leader tilted her head, curiously gazing at the young woman as if to discern her intent. "What?"

"Swimming. Me go." Rachel made a few mocking arm movements like the freestyle. "Whole planet pool out there."

Another alien materialized at the leader's side, offering a pair of goggles.

"They are equipped with a homing device, good Doctor," said the leader, soothingly. "She will be able to find her way back."

Happily giggling, Rachel slipped back into the air lock, sliding the goggles on.

"Wait! Rachel, it's twelve feet of water. Think of the pressure!"

"Relax Doctor. I pike dive into our deep end all the time."

And the door closed.


	4. Chapter 4

"I can't believe she went swimming. On a planet I don't even know!" The Doctor paused to wheel on the leader of the Dolphinus. "What do you call this planet anyway?"

"It is still in debate in Council."

The Doctor grimly smiled, suspicions confirmed. "This isn't your home planet. You said you chose it. Why? If there is a race out there hostile to its invaders-"

"We sensed no lifeforms when we scanned. And we did not activate the 'bigger on the inside,' as your friend called it, right away for it is a rather permanent structure. We scanned continuously for half of a year in case of migratory species. But nothing turned up. After being driven from our original home, we would not want to drive out someone else." The leader paused. "And then there was a strange solar event. Our astronomers and engineers worked days to figure out what it could have been. We scanned for life. But nothing showed up."

The Doctor noted her sorrowful, downcast gaze. "What happened?"

"Our people, our explorers, they began to disappear. There was nothing around us but sand. Nothing to hide any life form. But people kept disappearing. So we'd leave gifts, tribute. It would leave us alone for a while before striking again."

"But you started to run out of supplies to pacify the beast. So you traveled to Earth, a planet with billions, to gather some tribute."

The leader sadly sighed. "There were exactly the number of people we needed there, too-"

The Doctor interrupted her thought. "You see, ma'am, I've got a...'thing' for planet Earth. And I hate to see their advancing people threatened. Now you will retrieve the people that have been taken and I'll help you get rid of the beast."

"It's too late, good Doctor. It's nearing feeding time."

The fury of Heaven and Hell crossed over the Doctor's face. "You placed dozens of people out there to die. And then, you let Rachel go out there too?"

"We were missing one." A thought fluttered in the leader's eyes. "We could use one more."

The Doctor took off running.

* * *

><p>Rachel, who took a big breath and carefully worked her way up to the top, was happy to confirm that the depth around the dome was twelve feet approximately. About a pool-length or two away was a spot where the floor rose up to two feet.<p>

It was a swimmer's Heaven. Had Rachel been on the swim team, she might have been more excited about the actual swimming. But as she settled down in the few feet of water, feeling the soft waves crash her chest, words started to creep into her mind.

They flew right back out when a flash of color on the floor caught her eye.

* * *

><p>"Catch him! Alive!"<p>

The Doctor was darting in and around buildings and streets, trying to evade an unfamiliar (now hostile) race in an unfamiliar city on an unfamiliar planet. He snatched a spear from a bystander and he hoped to find a harmless way to use it.

In short, he was in a pinch.

And he felt a pinch, right between his shoulder blades, just before the world went dark and he fell to the ground.


	5. Chapter 5

Treading water over the body of color, Rachel tuck-dived down, kicking her legs up quickly to propel her down farther faster.

To her horror, Mallory lay at the bottom.

She looped an arm beneath the young girl's and pulled her to the surface.

To Rachel's surprise and joy, Mallory began to breathe once she broke the surface. Rachel kicked them over to the shallow area.

"Rachel?"

"Mallory, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm good. But what's that?"

The young girl pointed down into the water. Rachel sank quietly below surface to look through the goggles, turning towards the dome.

The Dolphinus were laying something out on the seafloor, far from the door. As they fled back into their home, Rachel sank lower to get a better look.

She jerked back up. "It's the Doctor!"

"No, not that." Mallory tapped Rachel's shoulder and pointed the opposite direction. "That."

A dark shape was moving slowly in the water towards them. "Mallory, give me a minute." And she dove after the Doctor.

Hooking her arms underneath his, Rachel tried to haul him to the surface, but he wouldn't budge fast enough. Rachel, running out of oxygen, could see Mallory's feet moving anxiously above. The lifeguard gave it one last try.

But she wasn't strong enough to haul the Doctor and the spear up the hill in time.

_The spear! That'll have to do, _thought Rachel and she tried to pull it from the Doctor's death grip on it.

_Blasted aliens!_

Desperate and her head getting fuzzy, Rachel bit into the Doctor's hand.

He instantly let go of the weapon. Rachel seized it and shot to the surface, headed diagonally with the slope. She surfaced next to Mallory and stood just as a large, monstrous head emerged before them.

"It's a plesiosaur," said Mallory in awe.

"Not quite, I think," replied Rachel.

The beast bared its teeth, ivory white and sharper than sarcasm. And it roared.

Rachel didn't think. She just whacked the monster's head with the blunt end of the spear and roared back.

Mallory's jaw dropped.

The creature seemed to think the same thing. Slowly, it crept backwards before vanishing completely and swimming away.

"That was unexpected," said a stunned Rachel.


	6. Chapter 6

"What did you think would happen?"

"I go down fighting?" Rachel shrugged. "Oh wait! Mallory, hold this." She handed the spear off. "Just remember, roar back." And Rachel dove for the Doctor.

This time, he came up slightly easier and time was not of the essence. When he took a breath and stood on his feet again, he had one thing to say.

"Ow!"

"What?"

"My hand! Is it-did it-did the monster get me?"

Rachel shook her head. "No. I needed the spear to fend it off but you had a death grip on the spear. So I bit your hand, you let go, I scared the beast off, and now we're all alive."

The Doctor looked back at her in shock. "You bit me."

"You hear this Mallory? I save his life and he's concerned about a little nip."

"I think you broke skin."

"Suck it up. I have some words to say to the Delphinus."

* * *

><p>The leader was both surprised and relieved to see the Doctor, Rachel, and Mallory return to the dome. "How did you kill it?"<p>

"I didn't. I merely struck it and roared back. It swam away," snapped Rachel. "And what the hell were you thinking, letting me swim out there, alone and unarmed with no warning?"

The leader didn't seem to hear her. She turned to her people and cried, "The beast can be defeated!"

A great cry went up.

The leader smiled. "Will you, Doctor and Rachel, lead the hunt?"

"Not," said the Doctor forcefully, "until I have attempted to communicate with it. Someone get me a proper wetsuit and some goggles!"

* * *

><p>"Doctor," asked Rachel as the airlock slowly filled with water. "How will you talk to the creature?"<p>

"I know many, many languages. And the TARDIS, she can get inside your head and translate for you. That's why you understand the Delphinus."

"Ah." She paused. "Why do you want to reason with the creature first?"

The Doctor sighed. "It's a lesson my father taught me before he passed on 'Doctor' to me. 'Give everything a chance to change before you kill,' he told me. And I will."

The Doctor and Rachel swam out cautiously, headed for the shallow area they had been before.

"Do you think the others are alright?"

"It's possible. Probable? I'm not sure. But now we just need the creature to-" A dark shape loomed into view. "Speak of the devil."

The monster raised its head to gaze at Rachel, who stood there without a spear.

As it opened its mouth, the Doctor roared at it.

The beast responded, a lengthy, varied roar.

"What's it doing?" asked Rachel.

"_She_ is telling me what happened. Where she came from and all that jazz. Now shh. I'm listening to her." The creature finished speaking. "That's interesting."

"What?"

"You declared yourself this planet's supreme leader and champion, making her, a lost dinosaur, subordinate." The Doctor laughed. "You subdued one of a race that would terrify humans should they reappear on Earth, and by complete accident! It's the most perfect example of human ingenuity and creativity I've seen in a long time."

The two females just stared at the Doctor, unamused.

"Let's take her home. AND!" The Doctor wheeled on the hunting party of Delphinus approaching him from behind. "We will also take all the humans."

The leader bowed. "They will be placed on your ship."


	7. Chapter 7

All the way to Earth, the TARDIS was yelling at the Doctor for cramming a dinosaur into her swimming pool.

* * *

><p>On the flight to America, the Doctor realized the dinosaur had landed in ancient Scotland.<p>

* * *

><p>Eighty percent of the abductee's made it back home.<p>

For good reason, the pool was closed for the day. The mass disappearance of a crowd of people did not go unnoticed by the surrounding community.

Mallory was happy to get back to her picture book.

The manager was one of the twenty percent, so it was no surprise when the assistant manager let Rachel know about the promotion, if she wanted it.

The Doctor nudged Rachel's shoulder. "Back home and with a promotion. Congratulations."

"Oh, I don't know, really. I just had the most amazing experience of my life, and I'll never be able to tell anyone. The news people are already blaming heatstroke, or chemical exposure for the mass hallucination."

He rested in the door frame of the TARDIS and she leaned on the corner.

The Doctor smiled. "You could always come with me."

"What?"

"One adventure doesn't have to be where it ends."

Rachel smiled.

"Jason! Find someone else to be assistant manager."

* * *

><p>"Doctor, why are we going back?"<p>

"I want to ask the Delphinus a question. I want to know who drove them from their homes."

Rachel nodded as the door to the TARDIS opened.

If the leader was surprised to see the Doctor returned so soon, she did not show it. "The good Doctor and the curious Rachel have returned. And so soon. Why?"

"Where did your attackers come from?"

Now her surprise showed. "Why ask such a question? You cannot change the time that has passed." Her eyes suddenly grew wide. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "No. They have all gone."

"Yet I am here."

There was a moment of silence. "We like it here. There is no one else to disturb us." She sighed. "But if you must know, Time Lord, then I will tell you. Our attackers, though their race began in the far, dark corners of the universe, they came from Earth."


End file.
